Techniques to reduce risk of occlusions in drug delivery systems

Abstract

Disclosed are techniques to establish a modified pump rate that mitigates the effects of a pump occlusion and enables a recommended dosage of insulin to be output by a pump mechanism over the course of a control cycle. In an example, the pump rate may be reduced by adding a calculated time interval between application of actuation commands to extend the amount of time over which insulin may be output by the pump mechanism.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A non-transitory computer readable medium embodied with programming code executable by a processor, and the processor when executing the programming code is operable to:
 receive a first control instruction from a controller to deliver a first dosage of a liquid drug by a pump mechanism of a delivery device; 
 determine a first number of pump mechanism pulses needed to deliver the first dosage of the liquid drug; 
 determine a remainder of the first dosage of the liquid drug unable to be delivered based upon the first number of pump mechanism pulses; 
 output a first actuation command to actuate the pump mechanism to deliver the first dosage of the liquid drug minus the remainder of the first dosage of the liquid drug; 
 receive a second control instruction to deliver a second dosage of the liquid drug from the pump mechanism; 
 determine a second number of pump mechanism pulses needed to deliver the remainder of the first dosage of the liquid drug plus at least a portion of the second dosage; and 
 output a second actuation command to actuate the pump mechanism to deliver the remainder of the first dosage of the liquid drug plus the at least a portion of the second dosage. 
 
     
     
       2. The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the processor, when executing the programming code is further operable to:
 determine a second number of pump mechanism pulses needed to deliver the second dosage of the liquid drug; 
 determine a remainder of the second dosage of the liquid drug unable to be delivered based upon the second number of pump mechanism pulses; and 
 add the remainder of the second dosage of the liquid drug to a future dosage to be delivered by the pump mechanism. 
 
     
     
       3. The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the processor, when executing the programming code is further operable to:
 determine an undelivered remainder of one or more dosages of the liquid drug during a past time period; and 
 cause the determined underdelivered remainder to be delivered in a future time period. 
 
     
     
       4. The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the first number of pump mechanism pulses needed to deliver the first dosage of the liquid drug is based upon a resolution of the pump mechanism, and the resolution comprises a fixed amount of liquid drug caused to be output by one pump mechanism pulse. 
     
     
       5. The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 4 , wherein the resolution further comprises a predetermined period of time to deliver the fixed amount of liquid drug. 
     
     
       6. The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the delivery device comprises a housing and the controller is contained within the housing. 
     
     
       7. The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the controller is a personal diabetes manager, a smartphone, or a smartwatch remote from the delivery device. 
     
     
       8. The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the first control instruction is received during a first time period representing a first control cycle. 
     
     
       9. The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 8 , wherein the second control instruction is received during a second time period representing a second control cycle. 
     
     
       10. The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 9 , wherein the first control cycle and the second control cycle are of equal duration. 
     
     
       11. A drug delivery device, comprising:
 a reservoir operable to hold a liquid drug; 
 a cannula coupled to the reservoir via a fluid delivery path and operable to deliver the liquid drug to a user; 
 a pump mechanism coupled to the reservoir and operable to deliver the liquid drug from the reservoir via the fluid delivery path and through the cannula; 
 a memory operable to store programming code, a delivery control application, and data; 
 a controller communicatively coupled to the pump mechanism and the memory, and operable to execute the programming code and the delivery control application; and 
 a communication device operable to wirelessly communicate with an external device and communicatively coupled to the controller, wherein: 
 the controller, when executing the delivery control application, is operable to: 
 receive a first control instruction from a controller to deliver a first dosage of a liquid drug by a pump mechanism of a delivery device; 
 determine a first number of pump mechanism pulses needed to deliver the first dosage of the liquid drug; 
 determine a remainder of the first dosage of the liquid drug unable to be delivered based upon the first number of pump mechanism pulses; 
 output a first actuation command to actuate the pump mechanism to deliver the first dosage of the liquid drug minus the remainder of the first dosage of the liquid drug; 
 receive a second control instruction to deliver a second dosage of the liquid drug from the pump mechanism; 
 determine a second number of pump mechanism pulses needed to deliver the remainder of the first dosage of the liquid drug plus at least a portion of the second dosage; and 
 output a second actuation command to actuate the pump mechanism to deliver the remainder of the first dosage of the liquid drug plus the at least a portion of the second dosage. 
 
     
     
       12. The drug delivery device of  claim 11 , wherein the processor, when executing the programming code is further operable to:
 determine a second number of pump mechanism pulses needed to deliver the second dosage of the liquid drug; 
 determine a remainder of the second dosage of the liquid drug unable to be delivered based upon the second number of pump mechanism pulses; and 
 add the remainder of the second dosage of the liquid drug to a future dosage to be delivered by the pump mechanism. 
 
     
     
       13. The drug delivery device of  claim 11 , wherein the processor, when executing the programming code is further operable to:
 determine an undelivered remainder of one or more dosages of the liquid drug during a past time period; and 
 cause the determined underdelivered remainder to be delivered in a future time period. 
 
     
     
       14. The drug delivery device of  claim 11 , wherein the first number of pump mechanism pulses needed to deliver the first dosage of the liquid drug is based upon a resolution of the pump mechanism, and the resolution comprises a fixed amount of liquid drug caused to be output by one pump mechanism pulse. 
     
     
       15. The drug delivery device of  claim 14 , wherein the resolution further comprises a predetermined period of time to deliver the fixed amount of liquid drug. 
     
     
       16. The drug delivery device of  claim 11 , wherein the delivery device comprises a housing and the controller is contained within the housing. 
     
     
       17. The drug delivery device of  claim 11 , wherein the controller is a personal diabetes manager, a smartphone, or a smartwatch remote from the delivery device. 
     
     
       18. The drug delivery device of  claim 11 , wherein the first control instruction is received during a first time period representing a first control cycle. 
     
     
       19. The drug delivery device of  claim 18 , wherein the second control instruction is received during a second time period representing a second control cycle. 
     
     
       20. The drug delivery device of  claim 19 , wherein the first control cycle and the second control cycle are of equal duration.